Munich. BMW Group sales recorded solid growth once again in May. With 156,957 BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce brand automobiles delivered worldwide (prev. yr. 147,565 / +6.4%), the BMW Group achieved its best-ever May sales result. A total of 728,029 (prev. yr. 667,523 / +9.1%) vehicles have been delivered to customers since the start of the year, exceeding the previous year’s first five months by more than 60,000 units.

Ian Robertson, Member of the Board of Management, Sales and Marketing BMW, said in Munich on Monday, “Our vehicle portfolio continues to be in strong demand and once again we achieved record sales in the month of May. Exceptional new products such as the BMW 6 Series Gran Coupé, which we launched on the 1st of June, as well as the new BMW 7 Series, will continue to drive momentum. We are well on our way to achieving a new all-time high for sales in the year 2012.”

The BMW Group made strong gains in Asia in the month under review with 41,289 vehicles delivered (prev. yr. 32,839 / +25.7%). Mainland China accounted for 27,815 deliveries, an increase of 31.5% over the same month last year (prev. yr. 21,150). Year-to-date, 135,026 BMW and MINI vehicles have been sold in Mainland China (prev. yr. 100,456/ +34.4%).

Gains were solid across America with 35,127 vehicles delivered in May (prev. yr. 33,266 / +5.6%). In the U.S., 28,321 vehicles were delivered last month, an increase of +7.1% over the same month last year (prev. yr. 26,452). Year-to-date, the BMW Group is up 12.2% on sales of 130,843 in the first five months of 2012 compared to 116,656 in the same period in 2011.

In Europe, sales remained at the previous year’s level, with 75,374 units sold (prev. yr. 76,668/ -1.7%). Several markets in northern and central Europe experienced robust growth in May, for example the U.K. (13,438/ +8.9%), the Netherlands (2,500/ +33.8%), and Austria (2,137/ +10.5%). In Germany, a total of 27,796 new BMW and MINI vehicles were registered in May. (prev. yr. 29,350/ -5.3%). The BMW brand accounted for 24,116 registrations (prev. yr. 24,768/ -2.6%) and MINI for 3,680 registrations (prev. yr. 4,582/ -19.7%). Year-to-date, 121, 202 BMW and MINI vehicles have been registered in Germany, an increase of +1.1% (prev. yr. 119,873).

BMW: Worldwide sales of BMW brand vehicles climbed to 129,150 units (prev. yr. 121,170 / +6.6%) in the month under review. A total of 607,207 BMW brand vehicles (prev. yr. 555,440) have been delivered to customers worldwide since the start of the year – an increase of +9.3%. Demand for the BMW 1 Series 5-door Hatch remains strong with 14,748 vehicles delivered in May, an increase of 59.4% over the same month last year. The 3-door version of the BMW 1 Series Hatch will be launched in September, along with the new BMW 3 Series Touring. The BMW 3 Series Sedan continued to reported healthy gains in May with a total of 22,385 vehicles delivered to customers, an increase of 12.3% compared to last year (prev. yr. 19,931). Sales of the BMW X3 continued to climb, with 12,563 units sold in May, an increase of 23.4% over the previous year (10,181). The BMW 5 Series also reported strong gains in May with 32.236 vehicles delivered (prev. yr. 26,457/ +21.8%) and continues to command its segment. Growth was further driven by the BMW 6 Series which was delivered to 2,011 customers worldwide in May (prev. yr. 846/ +137.7%).

MINI: Worldwide sales for MINI climbed 5.5% to 27,527 vehicles in the month under review (prev. yr 26.104). MINI had an excellent month in parts of Asia, such as China (2,315/ +40.3%) and Japan (1,330/ +25.5%), as well as in its largest market, the U.S. (6,153/ +6.1%). Year-to-date, MINI sales are up +7.9% with 119,532 units compared to 110,803 in the first five months of 2011.

Motorcycles: In the first five months of 2012, BMW Motorrad sold 48,918 (prev. yr. 48,749) vehicles. This represents a growth of +0.3% compared to the same period in 2011. Sales for the month of May fell by 8.8% to a level below that of the previous year - a total of 11,457 motorcycles (prev. yr. 12,568) were delivered to customers.

Husqvarna Motorcycles recorded a rise in deliveries for the fifth month in a row. Year-to-date, Husqvarna delivered 4,420 motorcycles (prev. yr. 3,080 units), an increase of +43.5 %. In May, 860 vehicles (prev. yr. 537 units) were delivered to the Husqvarna dealership network, +60.1 % more than in the same month of the previous year.

My wish is now that BMW has pretty much solidified itself as the top premium automaker, they go back and focus on the driving. I'm not saying to ditch all the tech but I think with the F platforms, there's a good amount of tech available and being offered but all that came with a cost. Sales are going to be there (not surprising) but Audi is making leaps where a BMW should be shining (if reviews on their current models are any indication).

My wish is now that BMW has pretty much solidified itself as the top premium automaker, they go back and focus on the driving. I'm not saying to ditch all the tech but I think with the F platforms, there's a good amount of tech available and being offered but all that came with a cost. Sales are going to be there (not surprising) but Audi is making leaps where a BMW should be shining (if reviews on their current models are any indication).

HUH!? I think BMW has solidified itself as the premium automaker BY focusing on the driving. Not many companies create lineups where every model is fun to drive.

HUH!? I think BMW has solidified itself as the premium automaker BY focusing on the driving. Not many companies create lineups where every model is fun to drive.

I'm not disputing that. BMW is still focused on the driving dynamics but there is no argument that the FXX chassis has gone more soft than many were expecting and that goes for all models across the line up (people thought the E9X was soft from the E46...) At the same time you can't dispute that Audi has made bigger changes to their cars than BMW has with theirs. Go read the reviews, BMW still makes great cars but Audi is doing more to close that gap than BMW is to widening it and that's my point.

With the current generation of BMW's, it seems like there was more emphasis put on everything else than there was on the driving aspects of the car. Take the F30 3-Series for example, as a total package the 3 is still the benchmark but tell me BMW couldn't do a better job with steering where everyone seems to have a problem with? I'm sure BMW will no doubt tweak it but Audi isn't sitting still and then there's the ATS coming this summer. BMW fan or not, they still make exceptional cars but the lead they have as "the ultimate driving machine" from earlier years is definitely isn't as big as it once was.